Olympia in Swinging London
SIR,—Kenneth Allsop has certainly killed a number of birds with one tiny stone (SPECTATOR. April 29). Alas, most of his little victims were the inhabitants .4.6f his own birdcage, such plumed specimens of the Establishment fauna as Bob Pitman, Lady Jones and Toby O'Brien. Good shot.
1 do remember Mr Allsop's visit to me in Paris a few years ago, when he was hunting for sonic crusty copy to sell his readers, and it seems that ever since I have remained one of his specialities. No doubt, in one of the pigeon holes of his desk there is a compartment labelled 'Girodias/Pornography,' and the ingredients therein are always good for a sale now and then. The surprising advent of Olympia Press in 'Swing- ing London' was the natural occasion for another brilliant exercise, to which were added this time as a premium the £6 6s. of a 24 Hours television interview. The moralists of the Allsop-Gordon-Pitman vintage always use the same simple and effective technique. You'.address your readers as if they were all high- minded. straight-thinking, straight-laced, cultured and well-bred persons. You take them into your confidence in a manner calculated to show how supelp5 you are yourself in terms of virtue and distiistron. And then you let go the thundering denuftations of vice (meant, in fact. to titillate the reader). of crime (meant to appeal to the not-so- well-hidden sadistic element in him), of pornography (meant tat,intrigue him with the suggestion that you know a good deal more about it than he does), etc.
Stimulated by Allsop's article. Robert Pitman soon came out with his own denunciation . . . In her turn. Lady Elwyn Jones, inflamed by the diatribes of Allsop and Pitman, attacked me verbally and in pubtic, and then begged the journalists around her to forget that she had done such a thing—only to find her picture the next morning in the Daily Express. But the funniest, as well as the most wretched, con- sequence of Allsop's piece, certainly, was the letter Mr E. D. O'Brien felt inspired to write to the SPECTATOR (May 13). Mr O'Brien's organisation of public relations consultants has been in the service of the Conserva- tive party and of several other distinguished clients, one of which is the New English Library, my associates in this country. That was superb material for -r enneth Allsop's article. All he had before that werimrthe same old quotes from my various sayings and writings which already made the substance of a previous article: Mr E. 13. O'Brien being commis- sioned by the New English Library to launch the Olympia Press in Great Britain. after having filled the same function vis-à-vis the Conservative party, was just too good to miss. It was certainly cruel to use that piece of informa- tion, but all is fair in that game that stops short of libel, And there was no libel there, most certainly . . . ,Why Toby O'Brien. who describes himself as fairly ruse (in French). wrote that absurdly unfair, unethical and pompous letter is beyond the reach of my understanding. Mr O'Brien accepted the commission from us, named his price, presided over the first press party two months ago in his own headquarters, was most charming with the lady journalists to whom he gave copies of the first British Travellers' Companion green-covered products. To write today that he was unaware of what he was doing then is an infantile defence. To describe the books in question as porno- grapl%ris contrary to the most current business ethics. To speak of his own tastes and judgments in litera- ture as he does is simply grotesque. That letter is an act tantamount to professional suicide, it seems to me. It may appear surprising, in those circumstances, that our campaign was such a remarkable success. This we owe to the untiring ar.d imaginative efforts of one of Mr O'Brien's executives who was in charge of it from beginning to end. In order, l suppose, to prove to the world that he was in no way responsible
personally for the atrocious affair, Mr O'Brien invented that superb stratagem, quite in harmony with the style of his letter: he fired his own associate, Jack Smeaton. And it is refreshing indeed to evoke that pleasantly human figure to conclude my sad story: may I pay a personal homage to the talent and loyalty of Mr Jack Smeaton, that last victim of Mr Allsop's journalistic virtuosity?
MAURICE GIRODIAS The Olympia Press, 7 rue Saint-Severin, Paris 5
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